


She Strides Unclaimed to Claim Her Right

by Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw



Series: The Female of the Species [3]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-10-29 00:15:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10842450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw/pseuds/Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw
Summary: The war is over but there is still fighting to be done. The galaxy reels from the Synthesis. Newly powerful races vie for Council membership. And Cerberus still has one last surprise to share...





	1. Putting It Back Together

Ashley Williams has learned a lot about law enforcement in the six months she’s spent on the Citadel after the end of the war. And a lot about crisis management. And a lot about conflict resolution. All of which had a lot to do with listening, close and careful, both ears open all the time. And that means she heard a lot of things. For instance:

“I bet Shepard’s still out there.”

“No, she’s dead.”

“That’s what they said the last time. Did that stop her?”

“Well, no. But you’d think they’d have said something if she was still alive.”

“ But still...”

Or, on another occasion:

“I dinna like these Reapers.”

“They helped fix the hospital my sister’s in.”

“Your sister wouldn’t be in the hospital if a Reaper hadn’t blown her legs off.”

Or, later still:

“I don’t much like this green glowing business. If people were meant to glow green, we have been born that way.”

“You could say much the same about biotics, gramps.”

“Harumph!”

“And you have to admit, accessing the extranet has gotten a lot easier.”

“Is that all you kids think about? I bet Commander Shepard wouldn’t have stood for this malarkey. She could have beaten the Reapers fair and square.”

That last conversation sticks in Ashley’s craw. Not least because she’s pretty sure Shepard had caused the Synthesis, which is what they were calling it. But also because she doesn’t think they _could_ have won ‘fair and square’ if it came down to it. Oh, they would have fought to the last person standing. But she’s seen the reports: they were losing everywhere before the end. She shakes her head. It was a strange sort of victory, if you could call it that, but people weren’t dying, which had a lot to recommend it. Maybe there was more of her grandfather in her than she let on.

“Everything okay, Javik?” she asks.

The prothean scowls, which Ash thinks is his default facial expression. “I am not used to...peacekeeping. Or to seeing Reapers in the sky and having to fight the urge to shoot at them.” His scowl deepens. 

“Hey, at least they aren’t shooting back. Lighten up.”

Javik’s face contorts as he attempts to follow this order. “Very well, Captain.” Ah, yes, another promotion. She forgets sometimes. It would be a little dizzying if it wasn’t for everything else that had happened. “What do you think happened?”

They haven’t had much time to philosophize; have barely had time to draw breath. “I don’t know,” she admits. That, she reflects, is one of the worst bits about the conversations she hears: not being able to give answers to those who needed them when they looked to her. 

“Have you heard anything from your mate yet?”

Ash lets her breath blow out through her lips. “Nothing yet. Come on, let’s finish this patrol and call it a night, maybe meet up with Garrus and Tali for drinks.”

***

“Any progress with the communication systems, Traynor?” Liara asks. The green wave that they had ridden out of the Widow system had done a number on their systems. They were physically in excellent shape given their crash landing, but the software was still unreliable. Like it was going through growing pains.

“Negative, Doctor. Nothing beyond local-range frequencies. Not that there’s anything to talk to. Except ourselves. Strangely, the comm systems seem to function better when I’m talking to them, which is probably just my overactive imagination.” Sam blushes. 

“We may need to perform a full reboot, Doctor,” EDI opines. Liara had insisted on the title, claiming it was the only one she had actually earned. Sam had shrugged at the time. But given that the Normandy was nowhere near fighting fit and was instead spending most of its time researching the planet it had crashed on or the changes in its systems, perhaps a temporary re-designation as a science vessel wasn’t out of line.

“Hmm.” Sam can practically see the gears whizzing as Liara considers this, tables it, switches to another thought like a new feed in the Broker Network. “Doctor Chakwas, do you have any new data on the physiological changes?”

“While the readings are fluctuating, there have been no negative effects that I can detect.”

“Lieutenant Cortez, how are our supplies?”

“We’ve been able to forage to augment our food supplies, so we won’t starve anytime soon. But everything else…” He shrugs. “If we’re careful, we can stretch things. But this isn’t a developed world, and unless we can open communications or get the drive operational, we’ll eventually run out of things. Medigel, spare parts, ammo, fuel…” He sighs. “You get the picture.” The easygoing quartermaster by rights should have been left in command as the ranking officer after Shepard, Williams, and Vega had gone on ground teams. But he, like the rest of the crew, understood that the Normandy was not a typical Alliance vessel. 

“Understood.” Liara pinches the bridge of her nose. Sam’s attention is drawn away from the scientist by an incoming transmission.

Oh hell. Oh bloody hell. “Um, Doctor T’Soni?”

“Yes, Samantha?”

“We’re being hailed. _By a bloody Reaper_.” 

Fear courses through Liara’s veins. “EDI, how long would it take to perform the full reboot?” 

“Approximately thirty-one minutes.”

Too slow, too slow. “Cortez, organize an evacuation of the crew. Samantha, open a line to the Reaper. I’ll try to stall them while the rest of you get away.” She straightens and clasps her hands behind her back, draws out memories from Shepard and her parents and steels her spine with them. “This is Liara T’Soni of the Normandy. State your intentions.”

“I am Magister. I have come to render assistance.”

Liara’s wide eyes flick over to Traynor, who shrugs. “Magister, please confirm last transmission.”

“Your ship is in distress. I have come to render assistance.” The Reaper hovers at what she bizarrely decides is a respectful distance. “If you would prefer to deal with your own problems, this unit understands the value of self-reliance.”

“N-no! We would appreciate your help. We’re just...surprised.” Sam offers a silent prayer of thanks that she hasn’t soiled herself. Not that she hasn’t faced Reapers before, but, well…let’s just say she’s glad Liara is the one doing the negotiating.

The Reaper’s arms ripple, almost pensively. “Our simulations did not anticipate this outcome either. Still, the offer stands. Closing to your position.”

“Acknowledged.”Sam cuts the transmission and watches as Liara slowly unclenches her right hand from around her left wrist to rub feeling back into that arm. “Goddess.” She scrubs a hand down her face. “Samantha, did I truly hear a Reaper offering to help us?” Liara asks her, all pretense of command gone now.

“Yes’m, I think you did.”

***

The Reaper--Magister, she supposes they should call it--scans the Normandy and offers its suggestions and support, and the Normandy is spaceworthy again with remarkable speed. 

“Where to, Liara?” Joker asks. 

“The Citadel,” Liara says, a little too quickly. “So that we can liaise with the Council.”

“Liaise,” Joker repeats skeptically. “With the Council. Uh-huh. Is that what they’re calling it these days?”

“Joker!” Sam chides him.

“Don’t get me started on you, Traynor,” he teases. “Dr. T’Soni isn’t the only one aboard missing her...Council liaison.” 

Liara simply glares at the comm system until EDI’s voice crackles warningly over it. “Jeff…”

“Fine, fine: everybody gang up on the cripple.” Sam can picture the helmsman’s hands flying up in the air. “Next stop, the Citadel.”

***

It takes six months more of peacekeeping and repairs (during which Ashley doesn’t see as much of the others as she might like) for the Council to decide that the Citadel is stable enough to spare the Normandy and her crew on what is being formally billed as a victory tour but what Ashley knows to be a troubleshooting mission, cleaning up the little hotspots left over from the war. In the meantime, she learns more about the duties of a Spectre. And she learns a _lot_ more about her modest lodgings. Including exactly how many flat surfaces it has, which fixtures can support her weight, how long a shower they can take before the hot water runs out, which fixtures can support Sam’s weight, what opacity setting will let them look out their little window without letting anyone look in, and which fixtures can support both of their weights. In entirely unrelated news, her uniform includes long sleeves, gloves, and a high-necked collar. She rubs her most recent hickey gingerly.

But before she can go off on the ‘victory tour,’ she has one more piece of business to tend to.

***

“Operative Brooks, is Wolfshadow ready for its final phase?”

“Yes sir; there were slight delays as we adjusted for the new objective. But,” she concludes crisply, “I can assure you that all of the kinks have been worked out.”

“Excellent. Make it happen, Brooks. The moment is ripe. Make no mistake, the casualties inflicted by the Reapers were regrettable. But if a strong leader is able to take advantage of the chaos of the slaughter, humanity can ascend to its rightful place.” The speaker closes a half-raised fist in triumph. 


	2. A Grave Responsibility

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Normandy's crew pays its respects to her captain.

There had been a more formal celebration, of course. It had taken the galaxy a year of licking its wounds and mourning its dead to get to the point where they could think about a celebration. She still has the occasional nightmare. Ashley shudders and skims the crowd for Kelly Chambers’ face, thinking that she should maybe thank the shrink and schedule some more sessions. She makes a mental note of this and watches as the crowds file away, leaving the veterans to themselves.

They are all there, she notes, tapping heads with Wrex and Grunt, except for Mordin and Legion. She'd given so much to make sure they'd all pulled through, and in more or less one piece. She looks at Garrus’s scars and glances over at Jacob, who'd lost a leg in the fighting. Had given so much, in fact, that there wasn't even a body left. That had been a shock for her and Garrus and Tali, once they had finally pieced together what had happened. Granted, the intermittent green glow had been a pretty big clue. And the fact that the Reapers had stopped shooting. Between that and the genetic scans which revealed that they had somehow all become partially synthetic life-forms...it boggled the mind, but the facts were facts.

She just wishes Shepard were around to see it. Or--Christ! She thinks as she catches sight of EDI, the newly-minted Mrs. Moreau, carrying a half-synthetic, half-organic infant. How in the hell that worked, she had no idea. Sadly, she hadn't suddenly become more compatible with her lover, but there were plenty of orphans to adopt, she thinks, drawing one arm around Sam.

Still more approach them—Shepard's closest friends and allies, those who had served with her at her darkest hours and witnessed her greatest triumphs. She winces. That was the propaganda talking. No, she ruminates, this didn't need any grand speeches, any trite sentiments. Save that for the politicians, she reckons. No, all they needed was some time to reflect and remember. They were all here now, loosely ringing the memorial, she thinks as Ms. Goto decloaks, unnervingly as ever. Here are Jack and Miranda, fashionably late and arriving together. Guess that wasn’t just a wartime fling.

A mild cough cuts through the respectfully quiet chatter—even Zaeed is holding his peace, more or less, quietly trading war stories with James—most of it reminisces about Shepard. “I would like to thank you all for coming here,” Liara begins, “and especially the person who set all this up.”

Garrus blinks, and raises a questioning hand. “I thought that was you?”

“What?”

“I mean, all the clues pointed to you,” he continues.

“It would have taken someone with the Shadow Broker's connections to keep track of us,” Tali begins. “We __have__ drifted apart,” she glances at the life-sized statue of Shepard, “without her to hold us together. Well,” she amends, tucking herself more firmly under Garrus's arm, “most of us.”

“And the two of you were bondmates,” Samantha adds. “So I just assumed you were the one who sent us the invites.”

“No, it wasn't me,” Liara says, flustered. “Spectre Williams? Admiral Anderson? Wrex?” Blank looks abound.

“Hang on,” Cortez says, patting his pockets with hands still scarred from burns to the elbow from pulling a civilian out of a burning building. “Did anyone actually get an invitation? Because I can't find mine.”

“Are you certain you did not misplace it?” Samara asks.

Cortez shakes his head. “I always bring them to events like this, in case I wind up at the wrong place.”

“Should get himself a better pilot,” Joker cracks. “Yeow!” he adds almost before he finishes as EDI digs a sharp-looking elbow into his ribs.

Garrus takes control of the gathering like a C-Sec investigation. “Does anyone actually remember getting an invitation?” One by one, almost a score of confused heads shake.

“And yet, here we are, all at the same time and place. It is, to say the least, uncanny.” Samara meditates on this. “Are there any other common threads?”

“Other than us all being the biggest badasses in the galaxy?” Grunt asks.

“And the nightmares?” Ashley asks hesitantly. On the bright side, at least most nights, one of them was sane enough to comfort the other.

“And the dreams,” Thane adds, “of...her. From...beyond,” he concludes haltingly.

“All of us?” Jack wonders aloud. “Pardon my French, but not fucking likely.”

“You know, I'm weirdly relieved that I'm not the only one who's been dreaming of the late Commander Shepard,” Samantha admits. “No offense, Ashley.”

“So, what?” Jacob asks, shifting his weight on his crutches. “Shepard's ghost, calling us all here?”

“To do what?” Miranda asks.

“To remember, to heal,” Anderson says quietly. 

__Yes and no__ , they all seem to think, or hear, at once. 

“Shepard?” Liara asks at last, heart in a knot. 

__Yup__ , replies the voice—the presence?--with Shepard's characteristic wry wit. 

“Okay, I'm lost,” James admits. “What’s going on?”

__Funny you should ask__ , Shepard says. __You see, I kind of combined my essence with the energy of the Crucible, and wound up scattering my life-force across every living being in the galaxy.__ Somehow, the spectral voice manages to sound sheepish. 

“If I may, Shepard,” EDI interjects, “this does not explain how you are communicating with us.”

__If it makes you feel any better, I'm not really sure, either. I just knew I needed to have you all here, together._ _

“It's like the geth!” Tali says, clapping her hands joyously (and Ashley takes a moment to savor the sublime weirdness of that moment, as opposed to the sublime weirdness of every other moment over the last three years). “When you get a lot of geth together, they're smarter than when you have a few of them spread out.” She ponders the implications of what she has just said. “Keelah, does that mean we're a bit like the geth now? Wonders never cease...”

__Anyway, I missed the metaphysics lectures back in basic__ , Shepard quips. __But it is easier to communicate, the more of you there are.__

“So,” Liara begins hesitantly. “Is this your way of saying goodbye?”

Shepard mulls this over for a moment—Ashley can almost picture her stretching the muscles in her back as she thinks. __No, I think it's more than that. I think...__ She can hear the hesitation in her voice, the same hitch as before only the most difficult of commands. _ _I think you should all join hands in a circle.__

“No offense, Shepard, but if you called us out here just to sing Kumbayah,” Wrex begins.

“Stow it,” Miranda snaps. They meet the pale blue eyes—she's already brought Shepard back from the dead once; does she think they can do it again?

“I don't know about the rest of you, but if Shepard wanted me to hump a varren, I'd ask which leg. So you're damn right we're going to sing Kumbayah until Shepard tells us to stop.” Ashley seizes Sam and Grunt by the hands without giving them a chance to complain. The others follow suit, some more reluctantly than others. 

As the circle closes, Ashley thinks she can hear something...thrumming. Something deep down, making her bones vibrate gently, warmly. Her eyes are drawn to the statue of Shepard, now at the center of the ring. She gasps as it starts to glow, nearly dropping Sam’s hand as she does so. The statue is standing in an active, but not a combat, stance, one hand pointing forward, the major military awards of every civilized race in the galaxy etched into her back. Meant to symbolize Shepard leading the way forward, for everyone, she recalls. Nice sentiment, she thinks, so long as she doesn't have to use her license to kill on too many blowhards who try to co-opt Shepard's memory for their own purposes. She smiles in spite of everything, at the thought. And, she admits, at the mere phrase “Shepard's memory.” Why, it seemed like only yesterday when...

She isn't sure how long he has been standing there, woolgathering as if entranced, hand growing uncomfortably sweaty inside Grunt's. She only knows that when she comes back to herself, Shepard's statue is gone.

In its place is the twice-late Commander, curled up and coughing. “Shepard!” they all cry, startled, in a staggered cacophony. James Vega's uniform jacket is so big that Shepard could probably use his N7 patch as a swimsuit. As it is, the garment covers her modesty nicely. 

“How?..” Ashley finds herself saying at last.

Shepard coughs again, as if not quite used to having lungs. “Not a clue.” She stumbles, and Garrus catches her, helping her slowly to a nearby bench, letting her legs trail behind her like a ragdoll as Cortez takes her other arm. Dr. Chakwas trails behind them, frantically scanning Shepard’s life signs out of pure disbelief.

“I've never heard of anything like this before,” Samantha says, in what may be the understatement of the cycle.

“Actually,” EDI informs her earnestly, “a statue coming to life is a common element in human myths: Pygmalion and Galatea, Twelfth Night—” Tali coughs discreetly, and EDI, sensibly, stops talking.

“You know, most people stay dead,” Joker observes. “Not that I'm complaining.”

“I'll try not to make it a habit,” Shepard retorts before slumping onto Liara's shoulder.

“Perhaps the next question is 'why,'” Samara suggests.

“They said...they said...” She pauses. “Before I...whatever I did...they said the peace wouldn't last. So I'm back, I guess. Or maybe this is a reward. Happily ever after.”

“We'll figure that out later,” Anderson says. “For now...let's get you someplace safe, and keep this quiet until we can figure out how we want to announce this. And Shepard? Welcome back.”


	3. Too many Shepards spoil the...broth?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A familiar face on the news plunges our heroines into a new adventure.

Kasumi has a spare hood (why wouldn’t she? Ashley thinks.) so they make their way as inconspicuously as possible to Anderson’s apartment in threes and fours. “I was going to give this to Shepard,” he remarks, “and retire to Earth. Didn’t feel like leaving Earth after everything that happened. But god, I’m glad I came for the memorial service.”

“Aye-aye, sir,” Ashley says and flicks on a newsfeed to provide some white noise until Tali and EDI can finish sweeping the rooms for bugs.

“...the Council has yet to schedule a vote on admitting new members, citing the lack of a human repre--what?!” the reporter’s voice cracks and her eyes swell to the size of the Destiny Ascension. Everyone stops and turns to the video screen as the reporter composes herself. “In breaking news, Commander Shepard, missing in action since the end of the Reaper War, has been reported to have returned.”

“Goddamnit, I thought we--” James is cut off by the reporter’s next words.

“Cameramen are standing by with Commander Shepard as we speak and we will have a live video feed for you in just a moment. Again, for those of you…”

Anderson runs the opacity on the windows to 100% and triple-locks the door. “Seems somebody got tired of waiting for you, Commander.”

She manages a thin laugh. “Shouldn’t they know better by now?” 

“You do appear to wind up on the right side of more than your fair share of miracles,” Thane observes. He’s in a wheelchair now; doesn’t have the breath to walk, doesn’t like to speak too loud, but the eyes are still bright and sharp.

The flash of the screen cuts off further discussion. The eerily-familiar sight of Shepard’s face with its shock of red hair fills the screen. “Goddess,” Liara gasps. The resemblance is uncanny. Ashley wouldn’t be able to tell it was an impostor if the genuine article wasn’t standing across the room from her.

“Welcome back, galaxy. Sorry, I had to lay low for a while. But what the hell, I just saved your collective asses, so I figured I could use a break. But I got bored and I heard about a job opening.” She paused for effect. “So, humanity, how does Councilor Shepard sound? And better yet, how about a cure for this creepy green glow?” She winks at the camera. “Shepard, out.”

“Damn, Shepard,” Jack crosses her arms over her chest. “Frankly, she looks more like you than you do right now in Anderson’s spare duds. That much surgery must have hurt like a motherfucker.”

“Actually,” EDI pipes up, “facial recognition analysis shows a perfect match; it is mathematically impossible for a surgeon to have replicated Shepard’s features so precisely.”

“So, what, a clone?” James asks. “Is that even possible? Or legal?”

“Ahem,” Miranda coughs. “Yes, yes, and no. But that didn’t stop Cerberus.” She flushes as the roomful of eyes turns to her. Fucking Cerberus, Ashley thinks. “What? We couldn’t take the risk that Project Lazarus would fail just because we couldn’t repair the odd part or two. So we grew a spare...a spare everything.”

“But why the whole clone?” Garrus asks, gorge rising as he thinks of Saleon. “Surely you could have just grown bits and pieces.”

Miranda’s eyes close. “There was another scientist assigned to the project, Kendricks...he was in charge of researching how to extract a brain-print and transfer it into a different body. If all else failed, we were going to put Shepard’s mind into a fresh body.”

“So how do we kill the fake one?” asks Grunt, perhaps the only one of them not a little queasy at the thought. God, she’s missed Grunt, Ashley decides with a laugh. “I mean, we could just shoot her, right? She might not have your experiences, but she’d still be an enemy worth fighting.”

Liara shakes her head. “The galaxy is still putting itself back together. This announcement is only going to cause more chaos. Assassinating Shepard without laying the groundwork first could be catastrophic. And moving openly....two Shepards? Can you imagine?” Everyone else wolf-whistles at Liara, who flushes magenta. “Goddess, you’d think the fate of civilizations wasn’t resting on this conversation.”

“So we lay the groundwork,” Jack scoffs. “This bitch needs to go down, fast.” Nervy flickers of blue race over the backs of her hands.

“First we find out who she’s working for, or with,” begins the real Shepard. “Miranda, any ideas?”

She purses her lips. “Unfortunately--as I’m sure you remember--I didn’t exactly get the chance to wind down Lazarus properly. Assuming it is the same clone--which is a big assumption--Cerberus would be the obvious choice. But there was enough chaos that anyone could have gotten their hands on the clone, and it could have traded hands any number of times since then through the black market.”

“Why is everyone looking at--oh, never mind.” Liara throws her hands up in the air. “No, I haven’t heard anything.”

“Aria.” Garrus suggests. “Not that I have any desire to go back to Omega.”

“I could always do some poking around on my own,” Kasumi offers. “Hit up any of my contacts who are still alive.” Thane coughs and signals that he will do the same. Poor bastard, Ashley muses. All the PT in the world won’t help him now.

“Brynn and I are still in touch with most of those scientists we rescued,” Jacob adds. “Maybe one of them worked on the clone, or knew somebody who did. Don’t think I’m up for anything more energetic.” He taps his prosthetic leg.

“Okay, those sound like good leads to follow up.” Shepard strokes the side of her jaw. “Kasumi, Zaeed, Thane, can the three of you follow up on the criminal underworld side of things?” They nod. 

“On the other side of the law, perhaps I can offer some additional assistance,” Samara proffers with her usual efficiency. “It is my understanding that Mr. Vega may be of use on this front as a Spectre in training.”

“Do it,” Shepard tells them. “Miranda, can you and Jack follow up on any Cerberus leads you have?” Jack grins with feral delight at the assignment. “Anderson, I need you to stall a vote putting my clone in office as long as possible--you’re the closest thing I have to a politician on my side.”

“I can do it, Shepard...but it might be easier if we had an alternative candidate to suggest.”

“I thought I was done with this bullshit,” Shepard growls. “What about Osoba, the ambassador?”

Anderson rubs his chin thoughtfully. “Maybe… Let me know if you have any other ideas. I don’t know if he’ll garner enough excitement to be a viable alternative.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Shepard rolls her eyes. 

“But speaking of which...Once she’s formally announced her candidacy for the Council, she won’t be able to move freely. I remember when I was nominated, there were bodyguards shadowing my every move. And there was a vetting process to go through.” Anderson rubs his chin. “So if you could force her to chase you, she might have to delay a little.”

“Shep, you might try a little mudslinging.” Kasumi’s suggestion warrants several raised eyebrows. “Have someone do news stories to suggest that this Shepard is a fake.”

“Make her defend her good name,” Jacob nods approvingly. “Solid.”

“Maybe cause a little chaos of your own, Shepard,” Zaeed adds, voice gravelly. “If she’s anything like you, she won’t be able to resist.”

“Thanks, I think? Are there any other orders of business I should know about?” 

Tali raises a hand. “The Council is considering adding another member, so you might want to check up on each of the potential new races. I think they’re waiting for a human vote to break a three-way tie. Garrus and I will be returning to Rannoch, at least temporarily--you should meet us there--because, full disclosure: the quarians are among the candidates. So are the geth.” Her glowing eyes flit over to Wrex. “As are the krogan. May the best race win.” Ashley thanks God that the looks exchanged between them are friendly--the last thing they need is another war.

“Speaking of which, I gotta get back to Tuchanka,” Wrex grunts. “Got ten whelps and fifteen clans to keep track of and I ain’t sure which one’s harder. Sorry, Shepard, but I don’t think you want another Krogan Rebellion on your hands. I can spare you Grunt, though.”

Shepard nods her acceptance. “Is everyone else in?” Ashley surveys the nodding heads: Not counting Shepard or herself, that gives her Liara, Javik, EDI, Grunt, Joker, Sam, Cortez, and Dr. Chakwas, plus Garrus and Tali once they make the jump to Rannoch. 

“Commander, I have some reservations.”

“Yes, Javik?” The others instinctively back away, forming a ring. Ashley reaches for her sidearm, memories of Wrex on Virmire flooding back. “Everyone here knows I’ve always had time for my crew.”

“I confess I do not understand the science of the Crucible. But I am skeptical of the continued presence of the Reapers and the alleged peace. Was this the only option that you had?”

A long tense minute passes. “It was the only acceptable option.” She cuts off Javik’s complaint. “I could have taken control of the Reapers, but that’s too much power for anyone to have. Or I could have killed all of them...but killed every other AI in the process.” The room fills with a taut susurrus as everyone sucks in a nervous breath and runs through that impossible problem at once. Shepard’s shoulders seem to stiffen as she remembers her choice. 

“What about the threat of indoctrination? The Reapers are everywhere, now.”

“The important thing is that the war is over. Nobody else has to die. And there’s nothing I can do about it. We can worry about indoctrination later. And we probably should.”

“That is...acceptable.”

Now it is Shepard’s turn to round on him. “Nobody’s forcing you to be here, but if you’re in, I need to know you’ll have my back.”

Javik flinches first. “I am yours to command.”

Shepard nods, satisfied. “Ashley, you’re still in command of the Normandy, right?”

“Aye-aye, skipper.” She leans forward, knowing what Shepard is about to say next.

“Good...because I’m going to need a ship.”


	4. Cooling Tensions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our heroines arrive on Rannoch and make a new friend and revisit an old one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is late! I was away from my usual computer over the long weekend. So you all get a bonus chapter!

“Normandy, hailing Rannoch flight control. Repeat, Normandy hailing Rannoch flight control.” Samantha sends out the hail on all local channels. 

“Calculating flight vector,” buzzes a synthesized voice. Samantha looks down at the forward viewscreen: geth, quarians, and Reapers, all moving in unison over the planet’s surface and in orbit. She goes through the motions as the Normandy is cleared to enter orbit and to deploy a shuttle. 

Then the voice changes to a more familiar one. “Good to see you again, Normandy,” Tali crackles. “I think we could use the help. I’ll fill you in planetside. Our comm lines are still patchy and unsecured.”

“I guess it’s always something,” Shepard says once the transmission ends. “Well, you heard the Admiral. Ground team, to the shuttle. EDI, are you good to go?”

“If you are referring to my need to care for my offspring, I can assure you that I have evaluated Jeff’s capabilities and they are adequate to Morgan’s caretaking parameters.” In response to Shepard’s quizzical look, she continues. “We decided on a gender-neutral name given their lack of clear gender expression.” Her mobile unit straightens its posture. “In any event, I am more than capable of accompanying you.”

“Good to hear, EDI.” She turns to Ashley. “You’ll be coming along, too, Williams.” She grins toothily. “Given that you’re technically the Spectre who’s officially here.” Ash nods. That gives them EDI, Liara, Grunt, and Javik on the ground, plus presumably Tali and Garrus? Not bad. “Sam, see if you can help them with their communications grid. You’ll come along too.”

***

Sam isn’t sure whether to be pleased that the Commander thinks she can handle herself if things get rough planetside or relieved that the Commander thinks that everything will probably be fine. Given that the quarians and geth are no longer actively shooting at each other, she’s hoping for relieved.

Tali meets with them in private. “Where’s Garrus?” Shepard asks, voicing Sam’s same question. 

“That’s...a long story, Shepard.” Her hands knit. “Shortly before our ship arrived at Rannoch, some facilities were attacked by what appeared to be a group of rogue geth. Around the same time, local communications started going haywire. The geth have denied responsibility, and in a gesture of good faith, volunteered to help investigate. A task force was assembled, but there was a dispute as to who could command without being biased.”

“Enter Garrus,” Ashley supplies the missing conclusion.

“They’ve been doing sweeps, looking for the attackers, whoever they are. In fact, they’re supposed to rep--” A klaxon sounds. “Keelah, that’s the perimeter alarm; we’re under attack!” She scans a flashing screen. “They’re heading towards a geth factory, come on!”

“Williams, EDI, on me! Grunt, take the rest of the team and try to seal that perimeter breach.” 

The krogan grunts his approval as Sam and the others fall in behind him. “You’re too squishy to be Aralakh. But you’ll do.” He primes his shotgun merrily. 

Thanks, I think, Sam opines in the privacy of her own head. “Um, how are we supposed to distinguish friendly geth from unfriendly?”

“Shoot anything that isn’t standing next to a quarian,” Grunt barks.

“I like the way you think, tank-bred.” She thinks that’s a grin on Javik’s face, but it’s hard to be sure.

“Says the thing that spent fifty thousand years in a sleep pod.” Grunt adds his signature “Heh, heh, heh” as Javik’s expression unmistakably sours.

“We do have a mission to accomplish,” Liara reminds them, crushing a geth platform against a wall, then disabling it rather more permanently with her sidearm. 

Grunt makes a noise of assent. “Any luck on that jamming, Traynor?” He punctuates his question by triggering a shotgun blast into a geth pyro, creating a surprising amount of burning shrapnel.

“Working on it,” she trills, omni-tool flashing.

***

Elsewhere, Ashley sprays covering fire as Shepard and Tali move up, pumping out rounds from their shotguns. “Does anyone else think these geth are acting strangely? Not that they’re shooting at us. I’m kind of used to that by now. I can’t put a finger on it.” Not as weird as fighting side-by-side with geth, quarians, and a handful of Reaper ground forces, but she’s getting paid to notice things, not just shoot them.

“No, you’re right. I mean, I haven’t studied them the way my father or Xen have, but--” Tali pauses to drain another geth’s shields. “--their behavior is definitely off.”

“Great,” Shepard grouses. “You go away for one measly year, and everything’s different.” EDI offers to provide a behavioral analysis. “Thanks.” She ducks a rocket. “Williams!”

“On it, Skipper.” Ashley draws a bead on the geth as it primes its missile launcher for another shot and drops it with a headshot. “Are we getting any closer to what they’re after, Tali?”

Tali shrugs; EDI interjects: “I am detecting an unusual energy signature from the next room, Commander.”

“Shit.” Shepard uses her biotics to send a flamethrower-armed geth flying before it can flank them. “Well, everybody in one piece?” Three nods. “Stay sharp, people.” She leads the charge into what is a rather shocking number of hostiles, all trying to capture--not kill--one particular geth. 

One particular geth with arms glowing a very familiar blue.

“Shit,” repeats the only biotic--well, the only _other_ biotic--in the room. After that, the battle itself turns out to be the easy part.

“Greetings!” trills the blue-armed geth. As if on cue, a mass of quarians, friendly geth, and Reapers pour into the room; the rest of Shepard’s group follows soon after. Ashley glares at Javik; the last thing they needed was the last of the protheans to attempt diplomacy. He still wasn’t thrilled with Shepard’s decision, and he was visibly uneasy with the Reapers in the room, keeping his eyes on a banshee.

“Keelah,” Tali begins. “Is that a geth platform...with biotics?”

“This platform was heavily modified with element zero capacitors in the wake of the Synthesis,” confirms the unit in question. “I am still struggling with control.”

“The New Dawn Treaty specifically forbids new unilateral weapons developments,” argues one of the quarians. “When were you going to notify us of this?”

“The platform is still in the prototype stage,” one of the other geth equivocates. “And biotics are not solely military in nature. It was thought that platforms with biotics could assist in repairs.” The geth’s faceplates flutter with embarrassment. “It was thought that a successful development would be a pleasant surprise.”

“Damned thing should be destroyed. Enough lives lost--on both sides--because of what your rogue platforms have done,” snaps another quarian, a sidearm uneasy in his hands.

“Enough!” Tali barks. “It’s quite clear that--” she turns to the sheepish-looking geth at the center of the argument “--does this unit have a name?” she asks. 

“Units with access to human cultural signifiers via the extranet have designated this unit ‘Luke.’” It flexes its fingers. “Basis for designation appears to be accompanied in equal probability by assessments that this unit has ‘cool hands’ and by instructions to ‘use the force.’” Ashley chokes a laugh back. Snarking her way through a diplomatic crisis isn’t really something she wants to add to her Spectre resume. 

“Indeed,” says a straight-faced Tali, who had marathoned all fifteen Star Wars movies with Shepard one weekend. (Not enough musical numbers, in her professional opinion, especially for something calling itself space opera.) “Ahem. It is quite clear that Luke cannot stay on Rannoch.”

“If only there was some neutral third-party with the authority to swoop in and take him off-planet.” Shepard begins. “Good thing the second human Spectre is here.” She shrugs. “I think I’m still officially dead and haven’t been formally reinstated yet. Take care of the little guy. He’s kinda cute.”

“Uh, yes’m.” Ashley shrugs. “I take it this will be satisfactory?” she asks both sides in her best no-nonsense voice. “Especially since we’ll be taking a quarian admiral to help, ah, supervise the, erm, field testing of the new unit.” Both sides agreed to the compromise with a minimum of fuss. “Speaking of field testing, is that it for the attack?” 

A hurried conference confirmed that it was. “Admiral Tali’Zorah, ma’am,” began a hurrying messenger. “The task force has dropped out of communications.”

“What?!” Tali opens her omnitool. “No messages… Shepard, that’s not like him.”

“Admiral, commandeer us some ground transport. We’re going to go find your boyfriend.”


	5. Body and Soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which secrets are revealed.

“I’m detecting a jamming field over those hills,” Sam announces. 

“Garrus said they were moving into steeper terrain,” Tali murmurs. 

“I’m taking us in,” Shepard whoops from the controls of the light quarian-made hovercraft. Ashley’s fingers tighten on the gun turret handles, more worried about Shepard’s driving than the chance of hostiles. She manages a grin at Liara, who just shuts her eyes for a moment of prayer. 

“I do not understand,” Luke probes. “Williams-Spectre, why do all of you look...discomfited?”

“Has anyone ever told you about nausea?” Ashley asks.

“Stars, my suit reeked of vomit for a month after my first trip with Shepard.” Sam gags at Tali’s memory. 

“Would you have rather I let the Colossus gun us down? Because that was the only alternative to going over that cliff.”

“I would have rather fought on foot!” 

“You might get your wish!” Ash shouts, and signals to Grunt, manning the other turret. The familiar sounds of gunfire echo ahead of them. An encamped force of geth and quarians is being hemmed in by a mass of geth. 

“I’m taking us in!”

Ashley depresses the trigger and holds on for dear life. The hovercraft might be of quarian make, but the spitfire was pure geth brilliance, spraying slugs into their enemies at a truly frightening rate. “Out of ammo, skipper! Put us down.” Shepard suits the word to the deed and slams on the brakes. “You okay?” Ash asks a wobbly-looking Sam, who promptly retches into Rannoch’s dust. “Sorry, dear. Forgot you were a virgin. So to speak.” 

“Less romancing, more killing,” Shepard reminds them. She looks at Sam, wearing just a sidearm, then at the various disabled geth around them. “Grab one of their pulse rifles, Traynor. Nice and light, and good against their shields.”

“Jesus God,” Sam wheezes. “I know I’m out of shape, but this is nice and light?” 

“Let me… Shit, that’s a Harrier.” Ashley trades Sam her lighter Vindicator to confirm her first glance.

“What?” Shepard’s head snaps around.

“Cerberus-made rifle. Which invites the question:...”

“What are geth doing with Cerberus guns?” Shepard concludes. “And--shit!--Cerberus mechs.” A heavily-modified YMIR mech moves into view, flanked by a pair of Armature units. “This is going to be fun.”

***

Shepard’s definition of fun includes a lot of shooting and biotics, Sam discovers. I was just supposed to help optimize the communications, she laments to herself, shooting another geth. And now, here I am, watching my hunky girlfriend throw grenades at literal death machines while our crazy boss… “Oh my god, is she _climbing_ that one?” 

“Makes her harder to hit!” Grunt says proudly. “Go, Battlemaster, go!”

On second thought, perhaps she picked the wrong person to complain to. Still, it does seem to be working, she notes as Liara and Luke join forces to lift the other Armature high over the battlefield, letting it fall with a satisfying crunch. 

Then something very strange happens: the YMIR begins leading a retreat. “When have you ever seen a mech think for itself?” Shepard asks rhetorically. “Ashley, take Luke and EDI and figure out what the hell is going on...and where it’s going. I’m going to meet up with Garrus and be right behind you.”

“Yes’m,” Ashley salutes, then realizes that technically, she outranks Shepard. She blinks at this and gathers her squad. Both synthetics, including an untested prototype. Why don’t you saddle me with a dead-eyed husk? Well, at least she wasn’t supposed to be fighting anybody. And the YMIR had blazed an easy trail to follow. “Stay close to the rocks,” she cautions them.

“Why?” Luke asks.

“So they don’t see us,” she hisses and pulls out her sniper rifle. “But we can still see them.” She squints at the building ahead. “Looks like a basic prefab factory, the kind you get out on more developed human colonies. EDI, any clue what they’re making in there?”

The droid shakes her head. “The facility is heavily shielded.” 

“Damn. And I assume we can’t raise Shepard?” EDI nods. “So we wait for--shit!” A pair of troopships land nearby. Drugged-looking humans file out of the ships and into the building. “That doesn’t look good.”

“If this __is__ Cerberus, it reminds me of their operations on Horizon,” EDI opines. 

“That’s not good.” Ashley zooms back in; her aim flutters as she has to suck in breath suddenly. “That’s Shepard’s clone down there.” She flicks on her gun camera and watches as the clone strides aboard a waiting shuttle. “What game are they playing?” They had contacted Emily Wong and asked her very politely if she would run a story hinting that the person claiming to be Shepard was an imposter, but they didn’t expect to get such a rise out of the clone just yet.

“I don’t know, Captain,” Shepard says, causing Ashley to startle. “But I mean to find out.”

“Sorry, Skipper,” she teases, “I forgot Vanguards were allowed to sneak.”

“Frontal assault, then? Although I am going to be sneaking in with Liara and Garrus.” She rolls her neck around. “So there’s that. You up to lead a platoon as a distraction?”

“Yes, ma’am!”

***

Sam flexes her fingers. She’s slowly getting used to the whole “combat situation” thing, which kind of bothers her. Shepard’s having her and Javik take a smaller squad and secure the dropships. Which is fine, and they do it. But then the probably-Cerberus geth circle around in surprising numbers and there’s only one thing to do. “Into the factory!” she orders. Maybe they can hold whatever room is on the other side of that door.

Or maybe they’ll stumble into the middle of a massive firefight. Bugger. Well, at least Ashley isn’t here for this.

“Seal the door,” Javik barks. Great, now they’re locked in with the mad scientist, the army of geth, and, lest she forget, the nasty-looking YMIR. But she’s also watching Shepard move in perfect concert with Garrus and Liara, shredding the mechs with impunity. Okay, she thinks, we’ve got this. 

***

“Tell us what you know.” Shepard demands, shotgun barrels practically in Kendricks’ nostrils. “Where did you get this army of geth?”

“Humans,” a delirious Kendricks corrects her. “An army of humans. Raised to immortal perfection.”

Shepard, like the others, raises her eyes to look more closely at the factory around them. The cages full of semi-conscious humans. The deactivated geth platforms, or, perhaps, very convincing simulacra. The complicated devices not quite like anything any of them have seen before. “Oh, mercy…” Sam is unabashedly sick for the second time that day. Shepard’s aim drops in horror.

Just enough for Kendricks to decide to make a break for it. Not enough for him to succeed. “Somebody get a medic and tend to these people.” She shakes her head, disgusted.

***

“The Illusive Man isn’t going to like this,” Ali observes. “We lost Kendricks and Grimes.”

“And the real Shepard was able to patch things up between the quarians and the geth. Again.” Ruud groans. 

“I’m the real Shepard. And I’m going to get credit for stopping a war.” She slouches in her chair. “Maybe that could be our new strategy.”

“That has some merit,” Brooks admits. “Mr. Alenko, we’ll need your help to respond to something I saw in the news. Then, I think we should move on to our next plan.”

“I’m looking forward to that.” Ruud laughs. “After all, there’s no point in having a leader without an army to follow her. And with our manufacturing on Rannoch disabled, we’ll need to find alternatives.” Her eyes rest on Ali.

Across the room, Ueno’s eyes rest on her. This will be interesting to see.

“Just tell me when we get to kill Shepard,” Kaidan snarls.

“Not soon enough,” the clone replies.

***

Samantha adjusts the settings as Shepard meets with the net she cast to trawl for her clone. Vega reports in first. “No dice on our end. Sorry, Lola. Most police groups are just trying to keep order. No time for anything else. Bright side: Samara and I are doing a lot of good.”

“At least you’ve been on planets with goddamn police forces,” Zaeed cuts James off. “Omega’s the same shithole it always was. Aria’s too fucking busy keeping people from murdering each other to talk to us, and we haven’t found anything on our own.”

“I can confirm that the man you killed on Rannoch is Dr. Malvin Kendricks. He may have gone rogue since, but as of a year ago he was still with Cerberus.” Miranda’s lip twists. “Ruthless sod. Still, it would have been useful to question him, see if he had a lead on where they were going next...”

“Well, that’s not an option,” says Shepard deliberately. “So we’re going to make her come to me. Ms. Wong?” 

“I’ve run a vid-column asking why none of Shepard’s former teammates have been seen with her, among other insinuations, strongly hinting that she is a fraud.” Emily Wong looks pleased with herself. “It’s gotten a lot of hits.”

“And it’s having an effect,” Anderson confirms. “People are starting to ask questions.”

“Well, keep it up in the meantime. We’ve got to stop her before she gets named to the Councilor’s seat.”

Samara’s hologram nods vigorously. “It would be a shame if the Council was co-opted when the galaxy needs strong, effective leadership most.”

“Oh, yeah…” Shepard blushes; Sam snorts behind her. “I’m more concerned about having to take the job myself. Y’know, after I kill her. Anyway, I should go.”

Sam cuts the comm lines and wanders off to the lounge. Ashley’s there, along with a handful of techs and Dr. Chakwas. “Watching extranet broadcasts? Anything good on?” Ashley shakes her head.

“Just waiting for--” she’s cut off by the entrance of a drawn Steve Cortez, who staggers through the assorted oddments to change the channel. “Damnit, Cortez, one rule in the lounge! No newscasts!”

“Sorry, Cap. But you gotta see this.”

It’s Shepard’s clone. Again. 

“It’s come to my attention that a certain ungrateful vixen has taken to spreading lies about me.” Her eyes are cold. “Including suggesting that I’ve lost the trust of my friends.” She takes a step back to open up more space on screen. “But one of my friends still hasn’t betrayed me. He was with me from the beginning on Eden Prime.”

“No!” Ashley’s beer falls from her empty fingers.

“I couldn’t have stopped Saren without his help. Ladies, gentlemen, persons of all genders: permit me to reintroduce you to Kaidan Alenko.”

“Ash?”

Ashley wishes she had that beer back because her mouth has suddenly gone dry. “This is the part of the story where you tell me that I look like I’ve just seen a ghost, because I just did.” She turns to Chakwas. “There’s no way he could have survived that, right? Has to be another clone or a fake, right?”

“The voice is...even after three years gone, it’s still Kaidan.” The good doctor pulls herself back together. “The faint facial scarring is consistent with nano-repaired radiation burns. And, I expect, will make it difficult to prove conclusively. But as to your question...the facility on Virmire was built by Saren to serve as a major base of operations. And he had access to Reaper technology from Sovereign. And we all know what Reapers are capable of surviving.”

“Ashley, please,” Samantha begs, “talk to me, love.” 

Ashley pulls her over to a more deserted corner of the lounge. “You know what happened on Virmire, right?” Sam nods. “I thought it should have been me who stayed. An hour ago, I would have traded my right arm to see Kaidan alive again. Now? To see him tagging along with a fake Shepard who is almost certainly a Cerberus puppet? I wish he would have stayed dead.”

“You cared about him a great deal.” Sam surmises.

“He was one of the first people I really loved.” They sit in vulnerable silence until Ashley pulls herself up straight. “Know what? As far as I’m concerned, he’s still dead to me. The real Kaidan would never do anything like that.” She gives Sam’s hand a squeeze. “Thanks.”

“Hey, CO,” Shepard’s voice cuts in. “Guess we really pissed her off, huh? Because we’ve got a distress call coming out from a biotic research facility. Joker says we’re a half hour out. You’ve got the helm.”


	6. Treachery Repaid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betrayal to the left of them, Betrayal to the right of them, Betrayal in front of them.

Ashley doesn’t mind sitting this one out. Grunt, Javik, and Luke will be a solid team behind Shepard, and it gives her some time to herself. She’s praying down in the armory when Sam happens upon her.

“Didn’t have you pegged for the religious type.” 

“I don’t like to thank God that I’m not like those sinners out in the middle of the temple. More head down, hands clasped, count my blessings.”

“Mm, I meant with all of the pre-marital, girl-on-girl fooling around.” Sam’s voice has a teasing lilt as she curls around Ashley. 

“Never really much of the fire-and-brimstone, either.” She shakes her head. “I wish that wasn’t the first thing people thought of when they think about the Bible.”

“I know what you mean.” Sam’s arms clasp up under Ashley’s breasts. “I took a course on religion and society...I was actually a little surprised when they talked about putting up displays of the Ten Commandments. You sort of forget that there are actual good ideas buried in there. Still, I’m just as glad I’ve gotten away from that.” She hesitates. “That isn’t going to be an issue, is it?”

“Nah. I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do.” Ash leans against her. “Mind you, I would want to get married someday.” 

“Sounds nice. So, was that a proposal? You know, Shepard could do it,” Sam purrs. “And then we could think about a honeymoon.”

“Um, maybe? But I want to do it right. Have our families there, all our friends.”

“Fine, but if we’re going to do this the traditional way, then you’re wearing your dress blues for the ceremony, carrying me over the door into our bedroom, and shagging me rotten.”

Ashley’s about to get in a down payment on the shagging when the alarm sounds. “Shuttle’s coming back.” They smarten up as Cortez brings the shuttle in smooth. She does a quick head-count as the ground team disembarks. Shepard, Luke, and Cortez. An unfamiliar elcor with an armored figure slung over his (her?) back. “What happened to Javik?” Ashley asks.

“It would appear we traded one traitor for another. Not you, Carula.”

“Calmly: I appreciate the clarification. Awkwardly: perhaps you could introduce me to other members of your crew?”

“Oh, right. Ashley Williams, Samantha Traynor, my XO and Communications Specialist. They’re together. Williams, Traynor, meet Carula. She’s a badass and she’s volunteered to give us a hand. Cortez, see how much heavy firepower she can carry comfortably. Ask Garrus if he has any ideas.” She rubs her hands together. “I can’t wait to see the look on those Cerberus bastards’ faces when she’s got a missile launcher to go with her biotics.”

“Excitedly: do you think a chaingun would be appropriate?”

“I like the way she thinks, Commander.” Ashley pats the elcor on the shoulder. “But, um, what did you mean about trading one traitor for another?” 

Shepard’s face darkens. “I shouldn’t have let my clone talk. She convinced Javik that Cerberus was the only one who was going to do anything about the Reapers.”

“Did he miss the part where the Reapers are helping us rebuild?” Sam asks archly.

“No, he didn’t. But she made a good point: what if they’re still indoctrinating us, just by being there? I think we need to take a look at them, and a look at the Leviathans, and make sure we’re still controlling our own destinies.” 

Ashley’s eyes widen. “That’s a scary thought.”

“Anyway, he helped most of them escape: the clone and a couple others. But not all of them.”

Ashley’s breath catches in her throat. “Is that?..” Carula helps the still figure off of her back with her biotics. “Oh, LT…”

“I’m putting you in charge of him, Williams. Take him up to the medbay and see what they did to him.”

“Aye-aye, skipper.” Ashley’s a bit numb, but she and Grunt sling Kaidan up to Chakwas’s domain and get him out of his armor.

“We’ll keep him sedated for now, until I can do a full examination.” the doctor runs a hand over Alenko’s brow. “I’ll let you know when he’s ready for visitors.”

***

Sam knows she shouldn’t be nervous about her girlfriend (fiancee?) undressing her old flame in such a clinical setting, especially after she had denounced him. But it wasn’t that long ago that Ashley thought she was perfectly straight. And now she was making noises about having a traditional wedding. How easy would it be, she wonders, for Ashley to cast her aside and become the good Christian girl again?

“Hey, whatcha thinking about?”

Sam brightens instantly and instinctively. “Oh, nothing.”

“You were moping.”

“Just thinking about you and your old boyfriend.”

“That Kaidan is dead.” Ashley tells her flatly. “Williams women don’t fool around.” 

“I...I’m glad to hear it.” She smiles. “So, you want to tell our parents about the engagement?”

“So that _was_ a proposal, then?”

“Sam…” Ashley closes her eyes and recites. “ In that book which is

My memory . . .

On the first page

That is the chapter when

I first met you

Appear the words . . .

Here begins a new life” She opens her eyes to see Sam wiping a tear away. “Dante Alighieri. Sam...I want to spend the rest of that new life with you.

“Yeah. Yeah, let’s do that.”

***

“Ms. Ali! So good of you to join me!”

“What do you want, Ruud?” 

“I was thinking about our last mission and the data we acquired from the biotics lab. It was a pity we lost Mr. Alenko, but the data helped me complete the serum I’ve been developing to enhance human biotic potential. So much work went into producing it: our work at Teltin, the data from the Collector Base… I hope it bears fruit.”

“So do I.” Brooks interjects.

Ruud jabs Ali with a hypo. “My apologies for the paralytic. But if I disclosed all of the risks of the treatment, I felt certain you wouldn’t consent.”

“Maya, please…” But her erstwhile lover only looks on as Ruud strips her to an undershirt and shorts for the procedure.

“Sorry, dear. But Ruud is the only other biotic on the team, and she’s the only one who can perform the procedure. I would have had her use Alenko, but, well.” She shrugs coyly. “Like she said, a pity we lost him. I will miss you if you don’t survive the procedure, but sometimes, sacrifices need to be made.” Ueno raises an eyebrow from his corner of the lab. Ruud straps Ali into a mechanical pod.

“Ready to proceed when you are, Operative Brooks.” 

Maya looks into Ali’s horrified eyes. If there is any regret in Brooks, it doesn’t soften her face for long, Ueno observes. “Do it.”

The pod seals with a hiss. It muffles Ali’s screaming but doesn’t silence it.

Finally, the process ends. “Well?” Brooks asks.

The pod opens. Jinan Ali is wreathed in sweat and blue lightning. With a flick of her wrist she sends Ruud across the laboratory. “Don’t worry, I didn’t kill her,” she sneers. “But you’d best watch your back, _dear._ I’ll help you get done what needs to get done. But I’m loyal to Cerberus, not you. So much for family.”

“Please tell me you implanted a control chip as part of the process?” Brooks asks after Ali storms out of the room. Ruud merely smiles.

“Now you can start getting me my army,” Javik remarks.

***

“Well?” Ashley asks as Chakwas leaves the medbay.

“First things first: DNA scans confirm that it really is Kaidan. He’s in good health. They replaced his amp...but in the process, they added a control chip. I’ve removed it, and I’ve taken the precaution of fitting him with a biotic dampening collar and I’ve confiscated his omnitool.”

“Jesus…” She feels her throat fill with bile. “Is he?..”

“Indoctrinated? Not as far as I can tell. No, he should make a full recovery.” Chakwas sighs. “As to whether he’ll ever be the same Kaidan Alenko...well, that’s an open question.”

“Can I see him?”

“You can, but I’m keeping him sedated until he can recover more fully from the surgery to remove the control chip. Still, you may as well come in. I’ve got a bottle of brandy for medicinal purposes, and I’m prescribing us both a dose.”

***

Ashley stops by again the next day. Kaidan’s in bed, but sitting up and awake. And flanked by a pair of marines. “Good to see you, Alenko. Been a while.”

“Guess you aren’t here to break me out, huh?”

“Sorry, L-Alenko.” She tries to slur the old, familiar ‘LT’ into Kaidan’s surname the best she can. Doesn’t want to remind him of what he’s given up. “Doctor’s orders.” She smiles weakly. “Remind me to tell you about the stint I had in Huerta Memorial sometime.”

“No time like the present, Ash.” He gestures to the padded restraints on his wrists and ankles. “Not like I’m really going anywhere fast.”

“I, um, may have gotten my head slammed into the side of a shuttle by a Cerberus droid.” She shrugs. “Lucky she didn’t go after anything important.”

“Don’t sell yourself short; that’s an order.”

“Why, Kaidan, it’s almost like you still care after all these years.” She smirks, then taps her rank insignia. “But, uh, you don’t get to give me orders anymore.” 

“Congrats, chief. Uh, Captain. Guess you can afford to buy _me_ drinks now.”

Is he flirting with her? She wonders. “Some other time, maybe,” she hedges. “The selection’s pretty poor in this joint.”

“It’s a date, then.”

Definitely flirting. Time to shut this down without getting into the whole ‘you were the last guy I was with before I realized I was into women’ thing. The old Kaidan was sweet enough to handle that. Now… “Be nice to catch up. So, uh, how were things with Cerberus?”

“No fair pumping me for information while I’m tied down.”

“Hey, we were always on the same side before, Kaidan. No reason that has to stop.”

“Not while you’re still working with Shepard.” 

She looks down at him with pitying eyes. “What did they tell you, Kaidan? What did they tell you to make you think this way?”

“They didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know. Shepard left me for dead. End of story.”

“Well, you’re right about one thing: they didn’t tell you anything. They didn’t tell you I wanted to be left behind instead of you. They didn’t tell you Shepard worked with them and they didn’t tell her you were still alive. And I bet they didn’t tell you they had a control chip in the base of your skull.” Kaidan’s hand flashes up to his head, twanging the cords of the manacles. “I’ll see you around, Alenko. Let me know if you need somebody to talk to.”

***

Sam finds herself trying really _really_ hard not to be too jealous of Kaidan. Okay, yes, Ashley has been assigned to help him readjust to the Alliance and free will. And yes, Ashley has stated repeatedly that she was no longer interested in the man. But that is the rub, isn’t it? He is a man, he could give her children the usual way, he could give her an old-fashioned wedding, which would make her family very happy, Sam knows. And Sam could see how appealing that would be to someone who still isn’t sure of her own sexuality. 

It doesn’t help that Ashley is spending more and more time with her ‘old friend’ and correspondingly less and less time with her. Damn duty. “Tell me about scansion again,” Sam says.

“It’s the way you map out a line of poetry with its pattern of accented and unaccented syllables. And, if you’re clever, you can replace one word with another, as long as they have the same number and pattern of accented syllables. For instance,” Ashley recites from Richard Lovelace, tapping out the accents with her fingers on Sam’s arm,

“Amarantha sweet and fair,

Ah, braid no more that shining hair!

As my curious hand or eye

Hovering round thee, let it fly!”

“Could become “O Samantha sweet and fair. Not,” she clasps Sam’s hand, “that I could replace you.”

Sam smiles. How did you know, she wonders, that that was just what I needed to hear? “Tell me more.”


	7. Wake the Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A old friend is lost and a new responsibility is gained.

One of the few perks of being the Communications Specialist aboard the Normandy is getting to know all the gossip first.

“Admiral Hackett? This is a pleasant surprise.” Sam glances over at Ashley. She didn’t think Hackett--or anyone else--knew Shepard was alive, let alone on the Normandy. Well, except for all of the quarians, all of the geth, an entire research station...

“It’s good to see you too, Shepard. The real you.” His voice gravels fondly. “You should have known you couldn’t keep the most famous person in the galaxy under wraps for long. Tales of your exploits against yourself are starting to come out.”

“You can win and lose wars on the extranet,” Shepard muses. Samantha nods her agreement, then realizes that she isn’t talking about Galaxy of Fantasy.

“I’ll cut to the chase, Shepard. The Reapers inflicted a lot of casualties--you know that as well as I do. But the upper ranks were disproportionately affected because they tended to target nerve centers.” Explains why we haven’t named a replacement Councilor yet, Sam thinks to herself. “That’s where you come in. We need more top level officers. We don’t have as many ships as we used to, so we need to make sure they’re being used efficiently for now. But soon, we’ll have more shipyards, and more ships, with the help of the Reapers as we rebuild.” Sam quails under Hackett’s eyes, and he isn’t even looking at her. “Effective immediately, you’ve been recommissioned by Alliance Command and promoted to Commodore. The Council has also asked me to inform you that your Spectre status has been reinstated. Your first orders are to rendezvous with your new command. You’ll keep the Normandy as your base of operations, but you’ll now be heading a task force instead of a single ship.” He manages a half-smile. “It’s my understanding that Captain Williams has been nominally commanding the Normandy anyway; let’s just say I think it would be a good idea for her to remain in charge of the day-to-day order of business.” Samantha looks over at Ashley again--did that mean what she thought it meant?

“Understood, Admiral.” Sam has no sooner ended Hackett’s transmission than another signal comes in for Shepard. “Good to see you, Jack.”

“You want the good news first or the bad news, girl scout?”

“Give me some good news--I just got promoted.”

“Shit, finally. Ashley’s even made Captain, and she keeps moaning about the Williams curse like people even give a fuck. I mean, Jesus, at least she had parents.” 

“Well, to be fair, out of the last four years, I spent two and a half dead and another six months as a terrorist, and three in the brig.” And that, Ashley thinks, is why Shepard is a great leader. Among a hundred other things, she amends instantly.

“Whatever. Good news is that daddy’s girl and I found you a potential lead. Tell you more in person.”

“Have everyone meet us at these coordinates. Bad news?”

“Thane died last night. Didn’t sound peaceful, either. Lots of coughing and shit, but that’s Kepral’s for you. Went out fighting, though. That’s something.” She offers a bare-shouldered shrug of condolences.

“Shit.” Shepard’s face tightens. “Shame for him to make it through as much as he did only to get dropped by a chest cold. Thanks for telling me.” Sam cuts the line on Shepard’s signal. “Williams, we got ourselves a wake to plan.”

***

The wake runs long into the shipboard night-cycle. Tomorrow they’ll go back to their duties, joined on patrol by the Sydney, a heavy cruiser, the Saladin, a carrier (with James Vega commanding the fighters, shuttles, and marines), and the Marie Curie, a combination research vessel/hospital ship with Miranda Lawson aboard. But tonight there is still whiskey in bottles and music playing and Urdnot Grunt dancing on a table. 

And tonight there are pleasantly warm friends to lean against. 

“Regretfully: I wish I had known the late Mr. Krios better.” 

“You’d have liked him,” Ashley says, and tugs Samantha closer as she sits, back against Carula’s flank. “Hey, Carula. What do elcor think happens to you when you die?”

“Patiently: while not all elcor share the same beliefs, many believe that the soul travels to the underworld for a time, only to return in a new vessel. Skeptically: there is some scholarly research that suggests that this is inspired by traditional elcor migration habits.”

“Huh. I had no idea.” Sam nods, contented by the news, then winces. “I’m going to have such a hangover tomorrow.”

“Curiously: what are your opinions on the matter?”

“That’s...complicated.” Ash stares at her empty stein. “It was easy when I was young, and comforting when my dad died, to think that somewhere up there,” she waves the glass up at the fluorescent lights, “there was someone watching, making sure everything was taken care of, keeping you safe even after you died.” Her eyes fall back down. “The Reapers caused what you might call a crisis of faith.” Her family had come out relatively intact, but she’d lost Abby, her next-oldest sister, and Sam had lost her mother. Other families...had been less lucky.

“With understanding: I can see where that might be the case.”

“It’s been Shepard, actually, who’s done the most to reverse that.” She smiles awkwardly. “I mean, how can you not look at her coming back from the dead--twice--and not think there’s miracles that can happen.” Her face falls as someone crouches awkwardly next to them. “Speaking of people back from the dead.”

“Williams. Traynor. Carula.” Kaidan bobs his head at each in turn. They nod in return, sparing a brief look for the muscular marine shadowing him. This, Ashley realizes, is the first Kaidan has seen them so intimately posed. They’ve interacted with him, but purely professionally. “Didn’t realize you two were such close friends.”

“We’re engaged.” Ashley says calmly. 

“W-what?” Kaidan blinks. “No offense, Captain, but I didn’t have you pegged for the type.”

“Why don’t you just say what you mean: you’re disappointed because you think you turned me gay, or because you wanted to rekindle things and now I’m off the market.” Sam could feel Ash’s muscles tense. She is suddenly glad of the biotic inhibitors on Kaidan’s wrists. “You’re welcome to stick around, but not if you’re going to be an ass.”

“I-- Sorry, Captain.” He draws himself up with the intense formality of the drunk. “I think I’ll find someone else to bother.”

Sam watches him stagger away. “You just going to let your old crush walk away?”

“Yup.” She kisses Sam on the ear. “I’m not going anywhere. Unless you want to see if we can find an empty cargo hold?..”

“Maybe later, once the party’s spooled down a little.” She pets Ashley’s arm. “You know, if we are officially engaged, we’ll have to tell our families.”

“Fuck,” Ashley moans, and sags against the younger woman. “I can just tell my mother’s going to want to do some fancy, old-fashioned wedding. With paper invitations and everything. It was bad enough Sarah and Thomas eloped during the war. I don’t have any excuses.”

“I can think of worse ways to spend an afternoon.”

“We’ll probably have to wait until after our so-called victory tour.” Ashley shakes her head. “If you have to call it a victory tour, it probably doesn’t feel like victory.”


	8. Parents and Children, Copies and Originals

As it happens, it takes less time than they would have thought to break the happy news to Ashley’s mother.

“Mom, what are you doing here?” She coughs as she pulls off her helmet--some of the mining facility’s machinery was still burning.

“I could say the same for you. I thought you were supposed to be off on your ‘victory tour.’”

Ashley shrugs. “Cerberus attacks a salarian installation, we swoop in before they can make off with a million credits worth of raw eezo. Your turn.”

“Don’t you be sassing your old lady.” The elder Williams manages to keep up the stern facade for a few more heartbeats before hugging Ashley. “It’s a long story, so let me give you the abridged version: after Sarah moved out, there wasn’t anything tying me down, so I figured I’d get back into the planetary geology business.” She shrugs. “Not that I regret a single minute of the time I spent raising the four of you, but I certainly didn’t earn that degree to let it collect dust on the wall.”

“So you’re out here gathering dust instead?” Ashley teases, brushing dirt from her mother’s shoulder.

“Humph! Whoever thought it was a good idea to start shooting in an active mine should be dragged out back and beaten to death with his own stupidity. If one of those fuel canisters or demolition charges had been hit, the entire works could have gone up. Luckily, we’ll be able to salvage most of this. Take us a few months before we can start working properly again.”

“How many months?” Ashley blurts out. At her mother’s raised eyebrow, she continues. “I, um, may have proposed to Samantha Traynor. You remember her from Amaterasu, right?”

Her mother blinks at her. “Well, at least Sarah can give me grandchildren once she finishes mourning. I suppose you’ll want me to help coordinate the ceremony since you’re off gallivanting around and rescuing kindly old matrons. The Williams clan has gotten a little far-flung, especially with all the aunts and uncles and cousins we’ll have to invite.”

“Thanks, mom.” Ashley blushes. “I was worried this was going to be really awkward.”

“Whatever makes you girls happy, makes me happy. Just...stay safe. Losing one daughter before her time was one too many.”

***

Unfortunately, they can’t squeeze in a trip to Horizon, so Sam settles for an off-peak video call. “Uh, hi Dad,” which is all the warning he gets before Ashley pulls herself up straight.

“Sir, I would like to formally request your permission to marry your daughter.”

“Granted,” he replies, beaming, almost before she is able to finish. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re a grown woman and a hero, you can do what you damn well please.” He winks. “Also, I think you might be the last person in the galaxy who realized you wanted to marry my Samantha.”

“Dad!” Sam winces.

“Your brother has off for the winter break soon; I’ll send you a message with the exact dates later. Obviously we’ll make it whenever it is.”

“Thank you, sir.” 

“Don’t thank me just yet,” Martin says with a twinkle in his eye that Ashley doesn’t fully realize the import of until they receive his message later that evening.

“What are these file attachments?” Ashley asks. Sam reddens furiously in response. “Oh my god, is that __you__? How old are you, six? These are so cute!”

“So embarrassing.”

“Hey, I’ve already seen you naked. And I like the current version better.” She grins and nudges Sam. “We could take a few more pictures, if you’d like. Especially since I know you aren’t wearing regulation underwear tonight.”

“Captain Williams!” Sam blushes even further.

“Say that again, my sweet little specialist.” Ashley drags kisses down Sam’s neck.

“Oh Captain...my captain.” Ashley’s moan turns throaty and she starts fretting with Samantha’s belt buckle. “Ashley! Not in the QEC center! What if--”

“Admiral Hackett, sir!” Ashley snaps to attention as the man’s hologram flickers into being.

“At ease, Williams, Traynor.” Sam coughs and tries to turn as discreetly as possible. She doesn’t want to think about the possibility of the top-ranked officer in the Alliance seeing her with a fresh hickey. “I’ve got another mission for your task force…”

***

“Hackett really thinks Cerberus can reverse the Synthesis?” Ashley asks skeptically. 

“The risks are too great to ignore,” Liara points out. “With the Reapers’ help, the galaxy could enter a new golden age. Miranda’s working on making sure we all don’t get indoctrinated by accident. But if the war restarts…”

“Dejectedly: it will be a massacre. Our peoples are not ready to fight another war.”

“I suppose, when you put it like that,” Kaidan shudders. “I can’t believe I ever thought that was a good idea.”

Yeah, Ashley thinks, me either. This isn’t his first mission since rejoining the Normandy, but it will be the first action against a Cerberus base. She recalls Shepard’s orders to her: if he tries to betray us again, put him down. Orders she will have a little trouble following, admittedly, but she knows her duty, and once bitten is enough and more than enough. She looks over at Kaidan as the shuttle pilot brings them in, watches him rub the back of his neck, and thinks that she probably won’t have to worry about it.

They’re mostly meant as a distraction, anyway--their shuttles are loaded with heavy weapons, which is why Carula and Garrus are on this team. Shepard, per her habit, is leading in a tiny strike team: Grunt and Tali today. Meanwhile, the rest of them are on the outside looking in. “Let’s light ‘em up, people!” she calls, passing out rocket launchers. She and Garrus stay back to snipe softer targets. Nope, she thinks, not going to have to worry at all. She watches with delight as one of Kaidan’s missiles turns a sensor array into rubble.

They keep lobbing rockets at a steady pace: enough to piss Cerberus off, they hope. That’s the plan until EDI reaches up to her ear. “Shepard’s in trouble.”

“Time to escalate the level of our distraction,” Ashley says dryly. “Everyone, focus fire on my mark. Since Cerberus was impolite enough not to leave us a door, we’re opening our own.” This gets her a cheer. “Mark!” The explosion blows a rather enormous hole in the side of the wall which immediately starts seething with too-familiar aliens. 

“Warily: Captain, what are those things?”

“I thought we’d seen the last of the Collectors a year ago…” No time to explain the twisted legacy of the Protheans now. She takes aim and fires; then, suddenly, the Collectors retreat back into the facility.

“I’m not complaining,” Liara begins, “But what in Athame’s name just happened?”

“Hell if I know, Blue. But you and Kaidan and EDI are coming with me to find out.”

***

“And this is the device which controls your cloned protheans?” Ruud nods eagerly. Brooks had ordered them into action with the Alliance attacking their main research facility, including their largest bank of cloning tanks. “Excellent,” Javik says, snatching up the remote. “I am taking back my people. We will be happy to fight alongside you. But the Prothean Empire serves no-one.”

Ruud’s face falls. A rogue warrior, in the heart of their lab, with an army of genetically enhanced Collectors at his disposal? Not the ideal time to divide their force, with Shepard and her clone at each other’s throats. But, still, take out the head… “Ali, kill him.” She throws up a barrier as a full-blown biotic battle breaks out between the prothean and the two Cerberus operatives.

***

“The Collectors appear to be fighting Cerberus troops, and vice versa,” EDI observes. “Of course, they all appear happy to shoot at us.”

“To borrow a line,” Ashley mutters, “it looks like they started experimenting on the Collectors, only for them to get loose and start killing all their guys.”

“Sort of a recurring theme for them,” Kaidan observes, gunning down a Cerberus soldier.

“This doesn’t explain why that first group of Collectors started to attack us before turning around and going back inside the base.” Liara corrects them. 

“They heard Archangel was waiting for them,” Garrus’s voice crackles over the comms. 

“Perhaps they deduced that we were merely a distraction force,” Liara hypothesizes. 

“Unlikely. The Collectors we encountered previously were mere thralls, under direct control of a higher intelligence.” EDI shakes her head.

“They could have enhanced intellects,” Ashley argues, “or maybe--” she breaks off mid-thought as they round a corner. “Or maybe they got a change of command.” 

“Never a dull moment with you,” Kaidan quips. “You really know how to make a guy feel appreciated, bringing him to a firefight.”

“Only the best for you,” she teases back. “And look! They’ve picked just now to declare a truce to stop us.” She sprays fire at them. “Now all we need is for Shepard to show up. Or two Shepards,” she amends as the Commodore and her clone fight their way into the room.

“Nobody has to die here,” the original announces.

“Like anyone actually believes that,” her clone sneers. 

“Would this be a bad time to point out that I could have had my heavy cruiser bomb this place from orbit instead of giving people a chance to surrender?” She shrugs. “Sorry, I’m not used to having resources. I gotta boast while I can.”

“You wouldn’t.” The clone grins. “But I would have.” Her lips pucker as she mouths ‘Boom.’ “You were right, by the way. Nobody has to die.” She thumbs a switch; an electronic voice begins counting down from ten minutes. “Better hurry, though. Especially since the Enforcer here is going to be seeing you on your way.” Another press of the button activates Jinan Ali’s control chip.

“Damnit! Everybody out!” Shepard is the last one out of the room as Ashley takes point. They meet suicidal resistance, including the freakishly powerful biotic who seems determined to slow them as much as possible.

Somehow, they all get clear of the facility before it implodes, including the damned biotic. “My name was Jinan Ali,” she manages, bleeding out. “I didn’t think they’d…”

“They never do,” Shepard mutters angrily as the woman expires. “Not until a whole lot of good people get hurt.”

***

“You had a chance to kill Shepard,” observes Hiroto Ueno coolly. “And instead you ran.”

Shepard’s clone ignores him, instead setting coordinates. 

“Where are we going?” Brooks asks.

“To the Illusive Man.”

Ruud snorts. “Can’t decide what to do with our treacherous prothean? I vote we dissect him. In case you were curious,” she tacks on as Javik glares furiously at her from his restrained position, spitting with rage.

“There is one thing I need the Illusive Man for. I am going to fight her, and I am going to kill her at a time and place of my choosing, with a Cerberus army at my back,” the clone elaborates. “And for the last time, __I__ am Jane Shepard,” she snarls at Ueno.

“More like Jane Doe,” he retorts laconically. “Everything you’ve done, she’s undone and gotten the credit for.”

Her hand is at his throat in the blink of an eye.

“Children,” Maya interjects. “Wolfshadow is reduced enough as it is. Operatives Ruud and Ueno, would you leave us for a moment?” They exit with a minimum of grumbling. “First things first: what do we do with our dear friend?”

Javik stops spewing threats long enough to lock eyes with each of them in turn. “Do what you like with me. I have no purpose in these chains.”

“What is your purpose?” Jane asks. She squints cagily at him.

“Destroying the Reapers, and rebuilding the prothean empire. If I help your Cerberus while doing so, I care not.” He spits at the floor. “The races of your cycle accomplished so much only to flinch at the last. I know what the Crucible was capable of. But instead of destroying your ultimate enemies, you chose weakness and proved yourselves no better than your forebears, whom we butchered and hunted for sport.”

“That’s it?” Jane blinks, trying to disguise her surprise. She hadn’t thought he would be that easy to manipulate. “All you want is a chance to kill more Reapers and rule over a bunch of Protheans? And you’ll work with us?” 

“I do not betray trusts lightly. But the oldest trust--the oldest mission--I have is not in Shepard, not in you, but in my people.”

Brooks shrugs. “Well, that’s sorted.” She turns back to Jane. “Speaking of Shepard, I hope to God you have a plan.”

“Lure Shepard into a trap. Kill Shepard. Rule the fucking galaxy. Simple enough for you?”

“Oh, perfectly so.” Brooks’s smile is perfectly innocent. “See, I was worried that you had spent so long hiding in the shadows you had become scared of being the real thing.”

“Something you know all too well,” she sneers.

“Touché. So, what’s the bait in the trap?”

“I already told you: there is one thing I need the Illusive Man for…” They share a grin as Javik looks on implacably. 


	9. Once More Into The Breach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final battle with Cerberus; need I say more?

“Good job shutting down that lab,” Anderson congratulates them. “The revelation that Cerberus is backing, well, __a__ Shepard has lessened the desire to see her as the next Councilor.” 

“Thank heaven,” Shepard mutters.

“The bad news is, now Cerberus is starting to mobilize openly for war. All this while most militaries are just trying to get food and medicine out to those who need it. Twelve months on, and the death rate has finally stabilized.”

“And nobody has the stomach for it. Nobody except us.” Sam and Ashley share a squeeze of the hand at Shepard’s words.

“And the Cerberus mechs. And the Cerberus indoctrinated humans. And the Cerberus cloned Protheans.” Grunt ticks each one off on his fingers, punctuating the last member of the list with a guttural giggle. “I really like the way their heads explode,” he explains sheepishly. Nobody seems inclined to quarrel the point.

“Unfortunately, we lost track of your clone when she jumped through the relays,” EDI explains. “We can extrapolate possible locations, but nothing more definite.”

“So we make her come to us. Set a trap she can’t resist,” Garrus offers.

“Sounds like the sort of thing I would do,” Shepard agrees. “Although what I really want to do right now is punch the Illusive Man square in his bigoted face.”

Liara coughs. “This may be an opportune moment to point out that my sources have heard several interesting rumors about his location. All leaked since you encountered yourself at the genetics lab, I might add.”

Shepard freezes; Sam can practically see the gears turning in her head. “Sounds like she’s baiting the trap for us.” She grins.

Luke’s eyepiece spirals with confusion. “How does her setting a trap equate to good news? While my experience is limited, the existence of a trap being laid for one is typically bad news as it tends to correlate strongly with the presence of someone trying to kill you.”

Joker laughs. “Yeah, but somebody’s always trying to kill Shepard. It’s, like, one of her hobbies. Most people just collect stamps. Shepard goes in more for ‘mortal enemies.’” 

“This is excessively illogical.”

“That was a joke,” EDI offers comfortingly. “It takes some getting used to.” Luke folds his hands contemplatively.

“Can we cross-reference those rumors against the likely departure vectors given the mass relay used?” Shepard asks. “Add another filter for Cerberus activity--no, for the absence of Cerberus activity. That cowardly scumbag won’t want to draw attention to himself.”

EDI’s head tilts to one side. “Done. Shall I input coordinates?”

“Do it.” The room shares a grin.

***

“So,” Ashley says tentatively. “Four hours out from Kronos Station.” Their task force was going to be the spearpoint of a mixed fleet consisting of, essentially, every ship that could be spared within a day’s flying, including a handful of Reapers. “Figure we’ve got two hours before we have to start making our final preparations, maybe two and a half. Shepard always likes us to start a little early in case the timetable gets jumped up. At least, that’s what she says. I think she just likes to leave some spare time for an inspirational speech.”

“You have to admit, they are very good speeches.” Sam knots her fingers together.

“And that will probably be it, assuming the Illusive Man doesn’t have any fancy tricks up his sleeve to escape. And then we’ll have to figure out what to do with all of those hours that come after. Probably raise some babies, help put the world back together. God, does it feel wrong to be so happy when so many are still suffering so much?” Ashley asks. “But like Khayyam wrote:

A book of verse, underneath the bough,

A jug of wine, a loaf of bread – and thou

Beside me singing in the wilderness –

Ah, wilderness were paradise enow!”

Sam presses a hand to her heart. “My dear Captain Williams, you are very sweet. But you are babbling, rather.” She steps closer to Ashley and takes her by the lapels. “Because it sounds like what you are trying to do is ask me to bed, using rather a lot of needless, pretty words.” She kisses Ashley square on the lips. “Don’t say another word until our uniforms are scattered all over the floor.” Ashley grins and her omnitool seals the door.

***

“Team Mako, on me!” Ashley hollers. Garrus was in charge of Team Hammerhead, starting at the ‘top’ of the station and working its way down. They were causing havoc at the bottom, while Shepard, naturally, dove right into the middle. “Keep moving, everybody. They’ve got the numbers. We get swarmed, we’re dead.” They might just be closing the escape routes, but damned if she wasn’t planning on making it through to the other side. “Tali, where’s the next shuttle bay?” 

The quarian’s fingers flash over a terminal. “Fifty meters, then take a right.” She taps out another command and seals a blast door behind them. “That should slow them down.”

“Can’t they just override the door commands?”

“Please, Williams,” Tali scoffs. “Give me a little credit. I cut power to the whole door assembly...then I vented the atmosphere from that part of the station.”

“With trepidation: remind me never to get on your bad side.” Carula shudders as much as an elcor’s frame will allow.

“Amen.” Ashley snipes an engineer just after he places his turret, letting Tali hack its controls. “That should clear things up,” she notes as the gun turns on their foes, firing after them. “Carula, do your thing.” The elcor’s mouth ripples with satisfaction as she fires missile after missile into the Cerberus shuttles, turning them into flaming slagheaps. “Where to next?”

***

Sam tries desperately to keep an eye on Kronos Station’s damage readouts, even as she relays communications and telemetry data for their cobbled-together fleet. It isn’t remotely in her duties, but knowing Ashley is in there as thirty ships and six Reapers pound on the station and the remaining Cerberus ships is, well, a little harrowing. She sucks in a breath as half of a deck depressurizes. “Ashley,” she whispers. “i carry your heart with me (i carry it in

my heart) i am never without it (anywhere

i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing, my darling),” she recites e.e. cummings to herself as she forces herself to work.

***

“We’re all going to die,” Ueno announces stoically,triggering a series of responses. 

“Shut up,” Jane barks.

“Don’t be so depressing,” Brooks chides him.

“At least it will be a glorious death,” Javik consoles himself.

“Eventually, yes,” the Illusive Man remarks. “But not necessarily today.”

***

“That’s the last one,” Ashley announces. “Let’s rendezvous with Shepard.” Another twenty minutes of hard-scrabble fighting and winding through the station’s many corridors brings them to an elegant viewing room. What would ordinarily be an imposing view of the star outside was instead marred by the battle raging outside; what would ordinarily be a gorgeously mirrored finish on the floor and ceiling was marred by the battle raging within. At its heart: two Shepards, two traitors, and one heavily enhanced Illusive Man.

“I don’t need you anymore, Shepard,” the Illusive Man bellows. “You’ve outlived your usefulness to humanity at last. I’ve found your perfect replacement.” 

“You’ve found a cheap copy,” Shepard scorns him. “And you’re the only one who thinks anything different.”

“Prove it.” The clone throws down her gauntlet, and Shepard picks it up with relish. The battle starts again in earnest, with more Cerberus troops boiling in.

Ashley starts to lose track after a while--she thinks she sees Kaidan shoot Javik, but she could be wrong--but at the end, nobody wearing Cerberus colors is breathing, and everyone on their side is still in one piece. She takes stock of the corpses, including the Illusive Man, Brooks, and the familiar face of Jane Shepard in unfamiliar armor.

“Let’s go home,” Shepard says, drawing in a sharp breath. “That’s an order.”


	10. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a bit of fluff to wrap things up.

“Williams, I have some good news and some bad news.” Anderson informs her in the docking bay. “The good news is that you’re getting your own frigate.”

“The Council had been making noises about splitting up me and Shepard,” Ashley tells him. “So I’m not surprised. What’s the bad news?”

Anderson closes his eyes, and steps aside to show her the new ship.

***

“The Shanxi? Really?” Sam covers her mouth with both hands. “What were they thinking?”

“Not my place to ask.” Ash reaches up to take Samantha’s fingers. “Sam...I’ve been rounding out the crew. But she doesn’t have an XO yet. She’s not the Normandy, but…” She looks at her fiancee sheepishly. 

Sam’s eyes bug out of her head. “Are you offering?..” 

“Nobody I’d rather have by my side.” 

Sam nods her acceptance, then smirks. “Somewhat ironic that her maiden voyage will be our honeymoon, isn’t it?”

“We’ll have to break her in somehow.” Ashley grins. “I vote we start with the captain’s quarters.”

“Aye-aye, ma’am.”


End file.
